New use for historic Seguin hotel

New use for historic Seguin hotel

1of11The former Park Hotel in Seguin, now The Park Plaza Building, opened in 1917 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.Photo: Kin Man Hui / San Antonio Express-News

2of11View from the mezzanine level of the Park Plaza Building in Seguin, Texas. The building was recently purchased by Remote Logistics International with the intent of converting it into housing for oil and gas executives. The building has undergone various iterations from a hotel to an office building. Many of the building's unique details from the days of being a hotel remain. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: San Antonio Express-News

3of11The Park Plaza Building in Seguin, Texas was recently purchased by Remote Logistics International with the intent of converting the building into housing for oil and gas executives. The building has undergone various iterations from a hotel to an office building. Many of the building's unique details from the days of being a hotel remain. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: San Antonio Express-News

4of11Detail of the plaster work which was reportedly done by hand at the Park Plaza Building in Seguin, Texas on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013. The building was recently purchased by Remote Logistics International with the intent of being converted into housing for oil and gas executives. The building has undergone various iterations from a hotel to an office building. Many of the building's unique details from the days of being a hotel remain. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: San Antonio Express-News

5of11The Park Plaza Building in Seguin, Texas was recently purchased by Remote Logistics International with the intent of converting the building into housing for oil and gas executives. The building has undergone various iterations from a hotel to an office building. Many of the building's unique details from the days of being a hotel remain. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: San Antonio Express-News

6of11The lobby of the Park Plaza Building in Seguin, Texas. The building was recently purchased by Remote Logistics International with the intent of converting it into housing for oil and gas executives. The building has undergone various iterations from a hotel to an office building. Many of the building's unique details from the days of being a hotel remain. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: San Antonio Express-News

7of11A historical photograph of the Park Plaza Building in Seguin, Texas. The building was recently purchased by Remote Logistics International with the intent of being converted into housing for oil and gas executives. The building has undergone various iterations from a hotel to an office building. Many of the building's unique details from the days of being a hotel remain. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: San Antonio Express-News

8of11Detail of a rain gutter at the Park Plaza Building in Seguin, Texas on Thursday, Aug. 29 2013. The building was recently purchased by Remote Logistics International with the intent of converting it into housing for oil and gas executives. The building has undergone various iterations from a hotel to an office building. Many of the building's unique details from the days of being a hotel remain. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: San Antonio Express-News

9of11Detail of the plaster work which was reportedly done by hand at the Park Plaza Building in Seguin, Texas on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013. The building was recently purchased by Remote Logistics International with the intent of being converted into housing for oil and gas executives. The building has undergone various iterations from a hotel to an office building. Many of the building's unique details from the days of being a hotel remain. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: San Antonio Express-News

10of11The Park Plaza Building in Seguin, Texas was recently purchased by Remote Logistics International with the intent of converting the building into housing for oil and gas executives. The building has undergone various iterations from a hotel to an office building. Many of the building's unique details from the days of being a hotel remain. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: San Antonio Express-News

11of11Details of the flooring at the Park Plaza Building in Seguin, Texas. The building was recently purchased by Remote Logistics International with the intent of converting it into housing for oil and gas executives. The building has undergone various iterations from a hotel to an office building. Many of the building's unique details from the days of being a hotel remain. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News

SEGUIN — This city's proximity to the Eagle Ford Shale energy boom has prompted a company that caters to oil and gas executives to acquire a historic downtown hotel to renovate into niche housing.

“It will be open to the public, but we're focused on the corporate market,” said Jenny Savage, president of Remote Logistics International, which bought the former Park Hotel on River Street in July.

The Houston company already offers lodging for oil field workers in Three Rivers and Carrizo Springs, she said, as well as in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain.

Corporate customers in Texas get a roof, three meals a day, laundry cleaned and turndown service for less than $100 a night.

“It's all about the food and clean accommodations for these guys,” Savage said.

The five-story building, designed by architect Leo M.J. Dielmann of San Antonio, opened in 1917 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

“When the hotel was being built, the Guadalupe Gazette reported that it was to be the handsomest as well as best-equipped hotel in any town the size of Seguin,” says a Texas Historical Commission listing on the structure.

It was called the Plaza Hotel from 1935 until 1954, when it became dorms for Texas Lutheran College, according to the THC listing. Then it was apartments between 1964 and 1978. It was converted into offices around 1980 and renamed The Park Plaza Building when bought by S&S Investments, which sold it to Remote Logistics.

City leaders applaud the plans for the landmark, which is now appraised at only $182,000 and which faces the downtown square.

Besides constructing a rooftop garden and restoring a ground-floor restaurant, the planned renovations include recapturing the historic flavor of its original marble lobby.

“That's going to be a nice addition to downtown,” Mayor Don Keil said.

Mary Jo Langford, director of Seguin's Main Street program, said, “We've felt the influence of the Eagle Ford Shale before, in terms of increased hotel occupancy, but this project is going to bring in executives and higher-level oil and gas employees.”

The building's roughly 10 commercial tenants, including insurance salesman Charles Villeneuve, must vacate by December so restoration work can start.

“I'm waiting to see what the restaurant is going to be like,” said Villeneuve, 66, a tenant of 22 years.

Remote's chef, Daniel Friley, has fine-turned his recipes to satisfy the taste buds of roughnecks and their bosses.

“We go more with the home-style country food for these guys, like dumplings,” he said. “For special events, we do fancy food like rib-eye, shrimp and pan-fried salmon.”

Germane Warren of Tyler enjoys staying at the company's lodge in Carrizo Springs while working for Performance Technologies.

“When I come home, my room's clean,” said Warren, 29. “They'll pretty much make you something to eat right on the spot. The food is great.”

The Carrizo Springs and Three Rivers sites consist of mobile homes connected by decks and arrayed around dining halls and recreation centers.

Savage has been warned to expect some heartache while tackling the $3 million Seguin restoration.

“This is the most challenging thing I've ever done,” she said, “but I lived overseas, and I have a love for old, beautiful buildings.”